Jeb Bush: Fantasy Sports Should Be Regulated

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said at Wednesday night's Republican primary debate that there needs to be regulation of paid fantasy football leagues that have recently come under heightened scrutiny.

Bush said he didn't think the leagues, which allow some players to win thousands of dollars, constituted gambling. But he expressed concern that players could take advantage of the system.

"I think this has become something that needs to be looked at in terms of regulation," Bush said, touting his 7-0 personal fantasy football record this season. "Effectively, it's day trading without any regulation at all. When you have insider information, which has apparently been the case, when you have people who use that information, use big data to try and take advantage of it, there has to be some regulation."

Bush was alluding to a recent scandal in which an employee of the site DraftKings accidentally revealed that he had access to confidential fantasy data while winning money on FanDuel, a rival fantasy site. Members of Congress have called for investigations into the sites. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association announced a new board on Tuesday to regulate itself.

The candidate didn't say whether the federal government should play a role in regulating the sites.

"If they can't regulate themselves, then the NFL needs to look at moving away from them a little bit, and there should be some regulation," he said. "I have no clue whether the federal government is the proper place. My instinct is to say hell no."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who raised funds off fantasy football last month, was quick to criticize the question, saying there were more important issues.

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